Arena: Disciplined Social Innovation
Disciplined Social Innovation Arena Lab Sequence
Catalog updated 2.21.21
Disciplined Social Innovation explores taking a leading role in the process of social innovation.
- Social Innovation
We want the world to be a better place. We want to take part in the change. What is asked of us if we are serious? Social Innovation blends a path of study and on-the-ground exploration with people and systems. Social Innovation is not a product: it is a process. It can be learned and developed. It requires skill-building and courage. One can be an entrepreneur, or more of an intrapreneur, working within an organization. One can take initiative to simply support an ongoing initiative. No one who has succeeded says it was an easy path but it is found to be worth it.
Social innovation is not just a cool thing to do. It calls for discipline and love of the deeds. - Social Innovation Roadmap
We want the world to be a better place. We want to take part in the change. What is asked of us if we are serious? Social Innovation blends a path of study and on-the-ground exploration with people and systems.
The path is long and the climb is steep; your colleagues align with your values. - Getting in the Game
Getting started can seem intimidating, yet small steps and interactions with people in the field are nourishing for one’s confidence. Leading with Intellectual Humility and appreciation for what others already know will open many doors. Step forward!
Small steps, an open mind, and a big heart will open many doors. - Self-Accountability and Self-Assessment
What do I look to if I want help in holding myself accountable? How do I design things to assess in a meaningful way to guide me toward the development I seek? If I want a healthy relationship with my friends, where do I modify my habits or invest more time or attention?
Self-assessment can support holding ourselves accountable. - Responsibility, Accountability, Commitment
Independent, free and mature human beings are working toward showing responsibility, which means to respond with ability. To stand behind our word and show up is part of being accountable. To choose commitments based on clear intentions, and to live up to them, is a signal to others that you are a person who is reliable. Striving in this way reduces fear of the judgment of others and supports freedom.
Demystifying a free, independent, and mature human being. - Methods to Assess My Learning
Imagining we are outside ourselves, assessing our attitudes, habits, and behaviors, we can strive to get an objective glimpse of how we are operating. If we want to be free and independent, reliable and confident, we need to be able to assess whether or not we are learning from what is appearing before us. We can do this as a practice.
To assess our own learning can work to liberate us from outside influences. - Self-Knowledge Backspace
If we want to make change in the world, to contribute to healing and authentic community and justice, we need to begin with transforming ourselves. Gaining clarity about what we already believe, sorting out what habits we want to change, and developing humility about the challenges ahead are part of the path.
Actively transform ourselves as we work to change the world. - Fundamental Human Needs
Recognizing patterns of the needs of humanity, globally over time, was part of the work of Manfred Max-Neef (Chile). His work focuses on “What we need” and “What we want,” and the differences between them. Unless we know the relationship in daily life, we chase our wants and ignore what we authentically need.
Human needs and wants follow patterns that are illuminating. - Fundamental Human Needs in Our Organizations
Humans organize themselves to accomplish something. Within that organization, and as that group of people connect with wider circles, people have needs and wants. Clearing up the relationships helps the group make decisions for health and the common good. Ignoring these relationships leads us to erode our potential.
Groups also have needs and wants and we can clarify them. - Associative Economics
Building from authentic human needs and our capacity to create value, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) developed ideas to help post-WWI Europe. Associative economic principles offer a solid alternative to conventional capitalism by eliminating speculation, and adding shared risk and reward, as well as full transparency to economic processes. These principles offer insight for social innovators.
Associative economic principles liberate us from greed, speculation, and secrecy. - Developing Well-Reasoned Conclusions
To build confidence in our judgment is possible when we learn to use reliable frameworks and block out toxic elements.
To be a confident person means we have confidence in our judgment. - Properties of Systems I
Living systems share properties, and we can utilize these properties to help organize our approach to complex issues. Systems have a purpose, boundaries, a hierarchy, coherence, and emergence. They exist within a suprasystem and within them exist learning subsystems, humans who can cooperate.
Complexity can be confusing without having a systems view. - Properties of Systems II
Families are dynamic living systems. Individual humans are dynamic living systems. Both are complex, and we can learn from the comparisons.
Properties of dynamic living systems provide insight into complex issues. - Ecosystem Mapping
Any social innovation grows into an ecosystem of similar and related services or products on offer. Mapping the players within an ecosystem is similar to mapping the flora, fauna, soil, and climate in an ecosystem. Introducing a new idea without understanding the context of the social ecosystem is risky. We can avoid this.
Appreciating all the players enables collaboration to grow. - Building a Dynamic Social Innovation Initiative
Clarity of thought is essential to effective innovations. Seeing and working with the developmental process, with all its trials, is a signal of maturity. What, exactly, is our value proposition? How are the elements relating or coherent with each other? We can map and track these processes.
This process is more like surfing than getting on a train. - Quality Collaboration
Today, no one builds an effective social innovation in isolation or alone. Teams are needed because of the complexity and needed diversity of talents, interests, and skills. Behaviorally, what is asked of effective team members? Where are our strengths and where do we need to beware?
We won’t go anywhere unless we go together with a minimum of friction. - Diffusion of Innovations I
Everett Rogers’ book, Diffusion of Innovations, tracks how humans, globally, relate to new things. These labs will look at three aspects of his wonderful work; first, we will track the path of the adopter of an innovation, studying the steps.
Humans have been innovating for millennia: there are patterns. - Diffusion of Innovations II
Qualities of the innovation itself influence whether or not, or how quickly, adopters take it up. If we recognize these qualities, we can design around our weaknesses and build on our strengths. We can work from what Buckminster Fuller calls ‘anticipatory design’.
Patterns exist: we are foolish to ignore them and their wisdom. - Diffusion of Innovations III
It is not uncommon in marketing lingo to hear about “early adopters.” What is not common is a deep understanding of the characteristics and social norms and patterns of various categories of adopters. Who are we speaking to? The “late majority?” What are the characteristics of the pioneers and early adopters? How can understanding these help us?
Every community is unique; generalizations can help if respected. - Demystifying Strategic Planning
Consultants and leaders are routinely talking about “Strategic Planning.” This can be intimidating to anyone who has not participated within an organizational structure. Yet, we are always planning our own lives, and influencing the planning of our family and community. “The plan is nothing, planning is everything.” ~ General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Troops, WWII.
Strategic planning also applies to our own professional development. - Investing Time Wisely
The capacity of any system is the sum of the relationships to the exponential of TRUST. With whom do we choose to spend our time and invest in relationships? What characteristics are we looking for if we are serious about becoming a social innovator? What will be asked of us if we are to partner with high-achieving people?
Healthy relationships are based on clear, transparent expectations. - Crafting Effective Proposals
Clear, simple ideas are harder to craft than one might imagine. A disciplined process helps us develop and express our ideas with warmth, enthusiasm and pragmatic realism. This Lab is related to the next Lab, Crafting Effective Opportunity Statements. Multiple drafts and revisions will be needed!
Your idea will be accepted based on how well it is explained. - Crafting Effective Opportunity Statements
Clarifying our thinking enables us to state simply and clearly what we see: 1) as an opportunity, 2) as a problem, or 3) as a question in focus. This does not happen magically: it is a disciplined process of drafting and being guided by criteria and strategies that help us minimize ambiguity and remain aligned with our Higher Purpose(s).
Stating something important both clearly and simply takes work. - Informational Interviews
To become a social innovator means to learn from people in the field, people who have diverse experiences. Yet, you cannot build your social capital if you “data mine” people or waste their time by asking questions that are addressed on their website. You can prepare by forming Potent Questions — a Get Started free lab — that reveal your interest and enable them to recognize your potential as a thinker. This also honors them by opening new doors to their thinking.
Job offers and future openings can come from dynamic informational interviews. - Introductions
First impressions are formed in 7 seconds, according to research. How do you present yourself? What are the basics for professionals? Why not demonstrate that you know how professionals do it? Professionals want to work with professionals: show them you can belong without sacrificing your identity. It takes practice, and recording yourself and reviewing will help.
Focus on your backspace helpers if you are apprehensive. - Mentors and the Mentoring Process
We all need mentors, and we all can mentor others when we develop special skills or knowledge. The process can be highly satisfying to both parties if there is a clear understanding of the qualities, the expectations, the form, and the timing.
Strong mentors enable newcomers to become social innovators. - Resourcing
Jason Saul (The End of Fundraising) and Dan Pallotta (Uncharitable) have contributed significantly to understanding the macro issues facing NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), nonprofits, and organizations within the Civil Society. Demonstrating social good is tricky and filled with fear of losing funding streams. Social innovators can learn much about the context from these authors.
Social capital markets create opportunities and call for different identities.
Why Invest in Disciplined Social Innovation Now?
Read Co-Founder Jane Lorand's Reasoning.
Many of us seek to improve the quality of life in our local communities. We want to learn how to use our creativity to leverage change. To do this, we need to understand the systems that intersect in an area of our interest; we need to grasp all the players in a system, what they offer, and how they are currently working. This enables us to identify a gap or place for an innovation that will enhance the services available and better leverage or increase our resources.
The Challenge for the Social Innovator
It can seem romantic to see oneself as a leader in this field, to be introduced, for example, as a social innovator who is bringing new energy and ideas to the table. Yet, social innovation is a challenging arena and to craft an initiative that will make a difference, we need to be disciplined. We need to think like an entrepreneur while at the same time to sensitively work with deep respect for the individuals and organizations already in the field.
Specific Skills in Context
In these Labs, we explore “How to get in the game.” We look at systems and make an ecosystem map of all the current players. We follow the money, doing research from Guidestar and 990 tax returns of the nonprofit organizations to see their scope and leadership. We learn how to craft our value proposition to the various audiences. We learn how to write an effective proposal and do informational interviews. We get the big picture about mentoring and what to expect.
Social innovators need to work through Navigating Complex Issues Arena and Applied Critical Thinking Arena. The art of disciplined social innovation is weaving the insights from these Arenas to support guided out-in-the-field exploration.
The Culture and Structures
Grasping the culture in an area of interest comes from attending meetings, conferences, studying publications or literature and websites of the existing players in the field. Looking at the area from the governmental lens, there will be federal, state, often regional, and local (city and county) government players. All are part of the system that provides services. All have employees who are trying to offer good service within the systems. The root causes of breakdowns are almost always in the system and the relationships among systems, not with an individual player or organization.
A Time of Big Systemic Transitions
The nonprofit sector is taking on more and more of what historically been the function of other groups: government, faith-based communities, neighborhoods, or families. This is an exciting time to build the capacities to become a disciplined social innovator.
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